No Man's Land
by Double-A-B
Summary: When a hero is called, he must do what he can to save those who are and are not close to him. No matter the cost. That is what Finn, Jake, and their friends  plus Ice King  must do when the Lich returns, more powerful than ever.


**Author's Note: So, this is my first Adventure Time fic. I've had this in my head for a while, but I just couldn't find the time to get it down (thank Glob for winter break). Please let me know what you think of this.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own _Adventrure Time with Finn and Jake._**

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><p><em>Yes, here it is.<em>

The Snail looked at the former lair of the Lich and smiled when he saw no difference of what it was previously. As he slowly crept his way to the entrance, skeletons rose up and reformed their bodies, slowly following him as well. When he made it to the steps, two skeletons lifted him up like the king he was and brought him down to his well of power. As the snail looked at the substance that still bubbled magnificently, he thought to himself, _'Now my revenge will be complete.'_

When the two skeletons brought him close enough to where he could jump into it, that is just what he did. As he fell into the ooze that burned the snail's skin, he laughed maniacally as well. Suddenly, the well exploded, the ooze flying all around the floor where the well was. The skeletons were incinerated after the ooze landed on them, and the snail fell to the ground with half of his body gone.

Rising from the ooze came the Lich, his right horn now intact like his left, his crown now a mix of black, green and gold, and his body completely gone of all leftover skin he previously had. He called for his guards, and they surrounded him, pledging loyalty to their king.

"Go to the Nightosphere," he commanded in his menacing voice, "and find-"

"Already here, my lord."

The Lich turned to see two of his most loyal henchmen he had ever found.

"Hehehe, yes, we felt your presence right as you returned my liege."

"Good," the Lich said, "I need you two to help me. I am going to exact my revenge on everyone who ever meddled in my plans. That Billy, that stupid Ice King, and that pair of insolent fools who destroyed me!"

"More like tried, Master, hehehe."

The Lich turned to the one who was giggling and shouted, "Stop laughing!" With that, he covered his mouth and shut up.

"Now that he's done, what do you require of us?" the other mysterious henchman asked.

"You two are five of my top subordinates. I need you and the other three to help me rid of those fools and anyone else who tries to stop me!"

"But, my Lord, didn't two of us get destroyed along with you? And what of the other one?"

"The other will be notified shortly. And don't worry about the other two. Leave that to me. Now, go and destroy those who tried to stop me, and those who will try now!"

"Yes, my liege." After letting out a hiss, the first one jumped on the wall and crawled out. The other one let out a giggle, then clapped his hands and back flipped into a portal that appeared behind him.

"Now, all of you," the Lich said, all of his guards paying the utmost attention, "Defend this place from anyone who even tries to step a toe into this place, but is not under my command. Now, go!" With that, all of his guards ran off to their positions.

When they all left, the Lich looked at the ashes of the two guards who brought him down here and the carcass of the snail that had only half left. He raised his hands and cast a spell to lift the ashes and carcass, and then he moved his fingers around to make them all spin around in a circle.

"Like I said," the Lich whispered, "leave it to me."

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><p>"Come on, guys!"<p>

The Ice King was wrapped in iron chains, and Jake was locking the lock with his key hand.

"And, there! Now you're stuck! Ha!" Jake laughed.

"Guys," the Ice King begged, "I just want to be happy and marry a princess."

"Then find a princess that likes you back, but don't kidnap them!" Finn said.

"Dude, with the chance of that happening, he's better off kidnapping princesses."

"Haha, yeah. Good one, Jake. Now we'll let Phil Face Princess go," Finn then waved bye to the princess with the strange smile "and we'll take this." Finn then grabbed the Ice King's crown off his head.

"Ah, please, not my crown!"

"This is what you get for making us late for jam time with Marceline. Come on, Jake. Let's take this badbop to the big house!"

Jake stretched around the Ice King and then got on all fours, lifting him up on his back. The Ice King, being held together by iron chains and stretchy dog skin, found it too much and began dosing off.

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><p>The Ice King opened his eyes to find he was in his imagination zone.<p>

"Oh, great," he said, "Whenever I'm in here, things never work out for me. It's_ my_ imagination zone, how come I can't even win in here? All I want is-"

"Simon?"

The Ice King turned to find a red haired woman with glasses and green sweater. She reminded him a bit of Doctor Princess.

"Who are you?" the Ice King asked.

"It's me, Simon. Betty."

"Betty." When the Ice King said that name, he found that his beard was gone and he was wearing glasses and a lab coat. When he looked that woman again, he realized who she was. "Betty, my princess?"

"Simon, I'm so glad you're okay."

"Betty!" he shouted. The two then ran and hugged each other, with Simon thinking that nothing could go wrong.

"Simon, may I ask you something?" Betty asked.

"Of course anything, if you'll let me say how sorry I am of whatever terrible things I did, and that-"

"It's okay, Simon."

"Okay, Betty. What is it?"

Betty's face made a frown when she asked the question, "Why? Why did you leave?"

"Huh?" Simon was now bewildered, "Betty, I didn't-"

"Why did you leave me for that stupid crown?" Betty now had tears coming down her face.

"It wasn't my fault! I had no saying!"

"Why did you," Betty's face then began to melt and her voice changed to a deep, sinister voice, "leave me?"

"Betty!"

Suddenly, a blizzard appeared, and the starry space-like atmosphere was replaced by snow. As Simon looked around, it was as if the wind talked, whispering to him.

_The secrets of the snow will help you._

"Leave me alone!" Simon shouted, "I only want Betty back!" As Simon ran across the cold field of white powder that mocked him, he blocked his ears, trying to ignore the snow's words.

"Leave me be! I just want- Betty!"

Simon looked to see Betty's back facing him. With a smile on his face he ran to her.

"Oh, Betty, I'm so-" Simon was terrified when he turned her around to see a skeletal face staring at him, as if smile was also trying to be formed. He also recognized that face. The face of the Lich.

"Remember, Simon," the Lich spoke while crawling out of Betty's head, her blood stained on his clothes, "remember, the snow will protect you."

_The snow knows all._

Simon then looked down to see his skin switching between blue and peach, his clothes swapping between his science outfit and a tunic, and a beard coming on and off his face.

_The snow and it's secret will save you._

"No!" Simon shouted, just wanting to leave this horrible place.

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><p>"Hey, stop shaking back there!"<p>

The Ice King opened his eyes to find he was back where he was, tied up by a stretchy dog.

'Was, was that a nightmare?' the Ice King thought to himself, 'or, is the Lich-' his thoughts were interrupted when he saw a strange figure in the sky. Closing his eyes a bit to focus on it, he saw the figure appeared to be a skeletal knight with wings made of ashes and a snail shell on his back, coming right toward them! He shook around, trying to get Finn and Jake's attention.

Jake turned around and said, "I thought I said - woah! Look out, bro!"

"Huh?" Finn asked before being tackled to the ground by Jake, who went back to his normal shape, dropping the Ice King along the way. The creature narrowly missed Finn, but it's sword had cut the Ice King's chains, releasing him. Finn and Jake looked to see the giant creature standing before them, trying to get its sword out of the ground. The Ice King, trying to focus after a hard hit to the ground, saw that the creature had a horn symbol on the back of each wing, both looking like the horns of the Lich.

'Then, he is back,' the Ice King thought to himself.

"Hee-yah!" Finn shouted, stabbing the creature in one of its wings with his sword. The creature let out a blood curdling scream before trying to shake Finn off, who was holding to the sword for dear life. Jake then punched the creature in it's face, making it fall back a bit and causing Finn and his sword to drop to the ground. The creature shook its head a bit before being whacked by a metal instrument.

"Marceline!" Finn shouted, seeing her hit the creature with her ax bass.

"Take that!" Marceline shouted, hitting the creature another time, "Get lost!"

The creature let out a banshee-like scream before flying away.

"Marceline, what are you doing here?" Finn asked.

"Oh, you guys were late again, so I was on my way to your house when I saw you two fight that thing. Figured you needed some help."

"Hey, don't you need an umbrella or shade or something?" Jake asked.

"It's close to sundown now, doesn't really hurt." Marceline then saw the Ice King slowly crawling to his crown. "Uh, guys? The big butthead is trying to get his crown back."

"Huh?" Finn asked before seeing the Ice King, realizing he dropped it during the fight. He then ran up and grabbed the crown while Jake wrapped around the Ice King again.

"Thanks, Mar-Mar. Now, let's head to the Candy Kingdom and put this guy in jail."

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><p>Finn, Jake, Marceline, and Princess Bubblegum were in the prison chambers, where the Ice King was sitting behind the bars, wondering whether or not the Lich had returned, or if his wizard eyes were just making him insane.<p>

"So," Bubblegum said, "while taking the Ice King here, you were attacked by some winged-skeletal knight,"

"Yeah, yeah," Finn and Jake said together.

"Guess the Creatures aren't actually extinct," Marceline said.

"Creatures?"

"_Mirum creaturis_," Marceline said, rolling the rs off her tounge.

"They were supposedly extinct 100 years after the Great Mushroom War," Princess Bubblegum explained, "they were so dangerous that adventurers went out and fought them. They're believed to be one of the reasons all humans are almost gone."

"Huh," Finn said, "I wanna go after it!"

"No, Finn, it's too dangerous!"

"Come on! There was probably one adventurer who beat one. And if not, I wanna be the first!"

"Hey, why not let him, PB?" Marceline said, "You care too much for your boyfriend to let him adventure a bit!"

Princess Bubblegum, blushing, said "Now, just because I care about him does-"

"I know why it's back," Ice King said in a low voice.

"Huh?" The group of 4 asked.

"It's back because the Lich is back!"

"No way man," Jake said, "The three of us beat the Lich."

"But he is back! While on your back, I couldn't breathe and got knocked out. Also, could you loosen up a bit? I thought I was gonna die! You and your strechiness!"

"Ice King!" the 4 shouted.

"Okay, okay. Anyways, in my dream, I saw the Lich. And when I came back and saw the Creature, I saw it had the Lich's horn on each wing!"

"You sure it wasn't you're crazy, old wizard eyes?" Finn asked.

"No, it was real."

"If what he saw is true," Princess Bubblegum said, her voice shaking, "Then-then"

"Spit it out!" Marceline said.

"Then, that was the Symbol of Bereavement."

"Symbol of Bereavement?" Finn and Jake asked.

"It just means that that thing is dead and is under the Lich's control," Marceline said nonchalantly.

"Why do you act like you don't even care?" Princess Bubblegum asked in an annoyed voice.

"'Cause I'm gonna go after the Lich and beat his teeth out. You in?"

"Aww, yeah!" Finn and Jake said.

"Alright, let's pack!" Marceline said.

"Yeah!"

"No!"

The three turned to Princess Bubblegum, her fists clenched, and her face showing an obvious sign of dissaproval.

"I can't let you get hurt. Not like last time! I'm not letting you go!"

"We're adventurers!" Finn said, "And heroes. We have to go."

"But-"

"When was the last time _you_ went on an adventure, Bubblegum?" Marceline asked. Princess Bubblegum stared at her, Marceline doing the same thing. Bubblegum wasn't going to back down. She was a princess and her people needed her. But she also didn't want to give Marceline the satisfaction of proving that she was just a chicken. Such big choices in such little time, she decided to stick with this choice, no matter how irrational it was.

"Fine, I'll go!"

"What?" Finn asked.

"I just need to bring Lady along too."

"What?" this time Jake saying it.

"Cool, we'll leave tomorrow." Marceline said with a smug grin. Bubblegum looked at her and thought that no matter which choice she made, Marceline would have won anyway, even if she didn't know what exactly she won.

"Wait!" The Ice King shouted, "Let me go with you!"

"The last time you caused Bubblegum to be possessed by the Lich!" Finn said.

"But, I helped turn her back to normal!"

"She wouldn't have needed to be turned _back_ to normal if it wasn't for you!"

"Now hold on, bro," Jake said, "I don't want to either, but he might be able to help us."

"You're taking his side?" Finn asked, confused more than the time Choose Goose tried to rhyme something with orange and wanted to trade a banana for Beemo's motherboard.

"He did help us last time. Besides, we can just beat him up if he tries anything."

Finn thought about it and realized they'd probably need more help. Even if he really did not like the Ice King, he did help save them (though it was his fault). Plus, he probably would not have gotten to kiss Bubblegum if she hadn't turned 13 because of him, so he did kinda owe him (kinda, though, not definetly).

"Fine, you're in," Finn said, opening the door that held Ice King and giving him back his crown, grumbling a bit while doing so.

"Alright!" Ice King said happily, "I'll go get my stuff." Ice King then cast the 'Detect Secet Door' spell and flew away. While Finn and Jake grumbled a bit, Marceline turned to Princess Bubblegum.

"You really need better security around here."

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><p>The group decided to meet at dawn near the gates. Finn and Jake packed the root sword and their favorite snacks for the adventure, Bubblegum brought some clothes and a first aid kit, and Marceline brought her axe bass and a sun hat to block the sun.<p>

"Aren't you going to bring anything else?" Bubblegum asked.

"Don't need anything else," Marceline said while stretching, "I can just eat anything that's red."

"Okay, baby, are you sure you wanna come with us?" Jake asked Lady Rainacorn. He truly loved her and did not want her to get hurt, but he also knew he couldn't control her like the dictators of their species.

"Jeikeu, nan gwaenchanh-eulgeoya. Gedaga, geuleona olaesdong-an-i il-eul geollil geos-ida dangsin-eul meolliiss-eul su eobs-eo. Nan gayagessda. _[Jake, I'll be fine. Besides, I can't stay away from you for however long this thing will take. I'm going.]_

"Okay, honey," Jake said with a mix of worriness and happiness (worriness because he doesn't want her to get hurt, but happiness because they'll be together).

"Okay, Peppermint Butler," Princess Bubblegum said, "You're in charge for right now."

"What?" the loyal worker asked, "But, Princess, would it not be better to have one of your relatives?"

"They would just make an excuse or call Lemongrab, and I cannot let that happen. Please?"

The Butler looked at the Princess, the one he had been tasked to take care of for a great while, and said, "How could I say no to you, Princess?"

"Thank you, Peppermint Butler."

"I'm here!"

The group looked up and saw the Ice King floating above them, holding a brown bag.

"And I brought Gunter!" Ice King then put his arm under his tunic and then took it out, holding Gunter. The poor penguin, though, had his eyes open completely with bags underneath them.

"Wuack. Wuack." _[Help. Me.]_

The group gave unsettling faces to each other before Finn said, "Uh, let's go." The group then set off. When they were a few miles away, Peppermint Butler, who just kept staring at the group, praying to Glob they'd be okay (except maybe Ice King. Hey, he said maybe), felt a strange chill, as if it was speaking to him.

_Peppermint Butler. Your time is coming._

The servant looked around, but saw no one speaking to him.

"I hope it's just my imagination," he said to himself, "Please, let it be that."

And yet, he knew it was not his imagination, and that the words the wind spoke were true.

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><p><strong>AN: I used Google translate for Rainacorn's words, so they may be wrong (if you translate what she said in Korean on it, it will say something a bit different from what she said here). If you find a mistake in the translations, please let me know. Also let me know how you thought of the story. Thanks!**


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